Annie Wenstrup
@akwenstrup.bsky.social
260 followers 250 following 71 posts
Dena’ina poet. The Museum of Unnatural Histories, Wesleyan University Press, March 2025. Here for the fish.
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Reposted by Annie Wenstrup
biidaasamose.bsky.social
I have a new record coming out October 24th called "Live Like the Sky" and this is the first video by Inuk filmmaker asinnajaq. Filmed in Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), Inukjuak, Tiotia:ke (Montreal), Pittsburgh & Philadelphia.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson - Murder of Crows
YouTube video by youvechangedrecords
m.youtube.com
Reposted by Annie Wenstrup
paisleyrekdal.bsky.social
I would just like everyone to know I did NOT write the title (or choose the pic, though it's a nice dad joke). But here's the op-ed I wrote for the NYTimes. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/o...
Opinion | How I Ran Afoul of the Air Force Academy
www.nytimes.com
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Our poem as it looked during the reading!
akwenstrup.bsky.social
In July I had the pleasure of collaborating with @heideerdrich.bsky.social and Kim Blaeser on a poem inspired by Sky Hopinka’s work. You can watch us read the poem on YouTube and read the text at MoMA Magazine
youtu.be/SBReR5dkaXU?...
In Na Po Poets on Spirit Lines in Words and Images
YouTube video by The Museum of Modern Art
youtu.be
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Here’s a link to the 2023 article these quotes come from .

elpalacio.org/2024/03/grie...
akwenstrup.bsky.social
The best data we currently have about the scope of MMIP in Alaska comes from a 2018 Urban Indian Health Institute Report. You can read it at this link

www.uihi.org/wp-content/u...
akwenstrup.bsky.social
It’s not an isolated person, it’s not somebody that is unfamiliar, it’s somebody who’s part of a community who’s missing. … You know, it affects all of us. Even if we’re not directly related. I feel like we’re all from different places, but we’re all connected because we’re all Indigenous.”
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Brower told me,“They’re holding hands in the exhibit. That’s kind of how I feel we protect each other, and how we protect our families and my hometown. [Seeing them in a circle] makes people remember that they’re in a relationship.
akwenstrup.bsky.social
In 2023 I had the privilege of speaking with artist about their advocacy to end violence against Indigenous Alaskans. I want to highlight their voices, always, but especially in light of the AKDPS’s refusal to assist Data for Indigenous Justice.

Bobby Qalutaksraq Brower “Healing Stitches”
Healing Stitches features an atikluk made by Brower, along with five other atikluks made by other artists affected by the MMIP epidemic. The project emphasizes the importance of care and connection in the face of violence.

The atikluks are hooded overshirts made out of cotton. The six pictured are red. Brower said the color is in honor and relationship to The Red Dress Project which advocates for awareness of the MMIP epidemic.
akwenstrup.bsky.social
She also notes, “I was trying to represent our women and destigmatize them. There’s so many stories people tell about us, but they’re not historically accurate. They are not our stories”
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Webb states, “We know that the violence is happening anywhere Native women exist. The violence is part of colonization. So, I wanted to honor the grassroots work that’s been done in a lot of different communities.”
akwenstrup.bsky.social
When I spoke with Webb she told me that much of her work was informed by grassroots groups in and out of state.

“I thought I should acknowledge and connect to the work that’s being done all over the United States and Canada, where people are talking about this issue,”
akwenstrup.bsky.social
In 2023 I had the privilege of speaking with artist about their advocacy to end violence against Indigenous Alaskans. I want to highlight their voices, always, but especially in light of the AKDPS’s refusal to assist Data for Indigenous Justice.

Amber Webb’s Memorial Qaspeq
2018-2022
Image of a large Qaspeq, a hooded overshirt worn by Alaska Native peoples, created by Amber Webb. Webb drew the faces of over 200 Indigenous people who were murdered or who are missing. She adds portraits to the garment as she learns the names and identities of Indigenous women who’ve been killed throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. At over ten feet tall, the qaspeq’s proportions suggest the scope and scale of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis.
akwenstrup.bsky.social
The Alaska Department of Safety avoids accountability by refusing to share demographic information about crime victims in Alaska. By not naming the victims they refuse to allow Alaskans to define the scope of violence against Alaska Natives.
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Alaska Department of Safety’s stated reason, that compiling records would take too long because “the state does not compile lists of victims of crimes” is absurd. It points to either a fundamental problem with their data management or the agency’s complete lack of fucks to give about transparency.
akwenstrup.bsky.social
[when asked about the refusal] A spokesperson for the governor did not respond to emailed and hand-delivered questions about the state’s failure to provide names of homicide victims to Apok’s group.

www.adn.com/alaska-news/...
Alaska vowed to resolve murders of Indigenous people. Now it refuses to provide their names
www.adn.com
akwenstrup.bsky.social
That’s awful and unsurprising. I’m so sorry.
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Yay! Congratulations, excited to read it!
akwenstrup.bsky.social
Amazing! I wish I could be there!
Reposted by Annie Wenstrup
Reposted by Annie Wenstrup
hollyguise.bsky.social
Hi #skystorians #alaskasky & #Nativesky 👋

Looking for some non-fiction/Native history summer reading?

Right now my book Alaska Native Resilience: Voices from World War II is 40% off plus free shipping if you order through UW Press’ website with the code WARM25:

uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...
🌻